The Sentinel, Recruiting 210406

      I was just out of high school, working in a gas station/garage, fixing a flat tire one warm, sunny afternoon in late June when a navy recruiter stopped in to fill his gas tank. He zeroed in on me and walked over to chat with me. HIs first question was, “do you like what you are doing here?” I replied that it was okay and I thought if I could become a full mechanic it would be allright.” He looked me up and down and then asked, “do you like being all dirty all the time?” I don’t remember my answer, but he followed up with, “I could get you into the navy, working in electronics and your hands and uniforms would always be nice and clean.” Apparently the chief had never been on an aircraft carrier, because hands and dungarees get pretty dirty on a flight deck. As soon as he said electronics, the hook was set! My highest goal was to be able to work on radios, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to afford a college education in electronics, so that was why I was hoping to learn enough to be a car mechanic as my second choice.

      By July I was thinking the navy was a great idea. I was a month away from being 18 and by enlisting prior to 18 I would enlist on what was called a minority enlistment. That meant that I would complete my service on the day before I was 21. I would get my electronics training and then be able to have my radio repair business at the ripe age of 21. The enlistment would require my parents to sign an age waiver. My dad was ex-army in WW-2 and my mother would have nothing to do with the idea, so I had to wait until my 18th birthday to join the service.

      The extra month of waiting gave me a thought to shop around for perhaps a better deal. I went several times to an air force recruiting office, but the office was never being manned. There was a marine corps office close by, so I stopped in. The recruiter made an appointment for an evening visit at our home to talk with me and my parents. That evening two marines came by the house all spiffed up in their impressive dress uniforms. As we spoke, I mentioned the navy was guaranteeing me an electronics position and could I get that guarantee from the corps. Their reply in a very snide manner was, “all we guarantee is that we will make a man out of you!” I thought I already had the proper plumbing to assure manhood. That ended the evening on a sour note.

      I went back to the city of Clayton where the recruiters had their offices right after I was 18 and talked to the navy chief I had spoken with in June. He gave me an aptitude test, graded it and said I was qualified for any naval aviation rating, including naval aviation electronics. I signed up on the spot. My life changed forever on that afternoon. I had my ups and downs in the next 11 years of naval service, but that led me on to better things the rest of my life, so far.